THE D'OYLY CARTE OPERA COMPANY

Charles Childerstone as A Lad of the Town in The Beauty Stone

Charles Childerstone (1896-1903)

[Enfield Highway, North London 3 Jul 1872, died Highgate, London 29 May 1947]

Charles Childerstone was a member of the chorus and small part player with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company at the Savoy from 1896 until 1903.He was in the chorus for the July 1896 revival of The Mikado and, presumably, for His Majesty in February 1897. He was also in the chorus for the May 5, 1897 revival of The Yeomen of the Guard, but later that month assumed the small part of First Yeoman when Cory James moved up to play Leonard Meryll upon the temporary departure of Scott Russell. In June, when Greenbank & Cellier's companion piece Old Sarah was added to the bill, Childerstone took the part of the income tax collector Archibald Jones.

Archibald Jones was his only named part through the run of The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein (December 1897 to March 1898), but when The Gondoliers was revived on March 22, Childerstone was given the non-singing role of Annibale. He maintained his part in Old Sarah through the run of The Gondoliers.

For The Beauty Stone (May-July 1898) he was A Lad of the Town, and was once again Annibale in The Gondoliers when that opera returned to the Savoy from July to September. The September 1898 revival of The Sorcerer and Trial by Jury found Childerstone in another non-singing (and this time non-speaking) role: that of the Associate in Trial by Jury. He was also, however, one of four tenors to fill in for a spell as the Defendant in December after the departure of Cory James.

He was a Chamberlain in The Lucky Star (January-May 1899) and the Defendant in Trial by Jury when Trial was revived with H.M.S. Pinafore (June-November 1899). He also appeared on occasion in August 1899 as Ralph Rackstraw in place of Robert Evett.

For The Rose of Persia (November 1899-June 1900) Childerstone was The Physician-in-Chief, and when The Pirates of Penzance was revived with The Outpost (June-November 1900) he took the part of Henry in the shorter work. He continued as Henry when Patience replaced Pirates as the main attraction, but was back to chorus only in December 1900 when Pretty Polly succeeded Old Sarah on the bill. He remained in the chorus for The Emerald Isle (April-November 1901), until August when he succeeded Powis Pinder as Private Perry.

Childerstone was presumably back in the chorus for Ib and Little Cristina (November 1901) and Iolanthe (December 1901-March 1902). In any event, he had no named parts at the Savoy again until April 2, 1902, when he appeared as a Lord in Merrie England. He played this role through the run at the Savoy, a fourteen-week tour, and a return engagement at the Savoy ending in January 1903. He then appeared as sailor Will Weatherly in Hood & German's A Princess of Kensington at the Savoy through May and then on tour until fall.

In order to remain in London, like many members of the Savoy Company, Childerstone left the D'Oyly Carte organization after A Princess of Kensington and migrated to the Adelphi, where he appeared in The Earl and the Girl. He continued to perform in London and on tour until at least 1914, including a 1908-09 William Greet Company tour of Merrie England in which he appeared as the Earl of Essex. He continued to perform in various theatre roles throughout the 1920s and '30s, and has several film credits in the 1930s as well.

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